jsa suspension

yowordiagree

Hi guys new member here well at least to registering (been looking at forums for a while lol).
Im in a bit of a tricky situation as the title suggests my jsa claim has been suspended for 2 months! The reason being several weeks ago now I was at a 6 month meeting and seen a job that I wanted to apply so the guy at the job centre put me down that I was going to apply for it. I was told I must ask for an application form from the job centre and hand it in to them so they can forward it to the employer.
So I thought that to get in before other people applied I left the job centre and went straight to the firm as I had a few copies of my cv on me. Clever me or at least so I thought.
Several weeks later on my next signin visit I was toild to expect a letter asking why I failed to apply for a job. Shortly after this the letter arrived where I provided details of what had happened thinking it would shortly be resolved.
I heard nothing back and persumed that would be that, so I signed on last Thursday as normal with no indication of the suspension.
So I check my bank as usual on yesterday evening to find a balance of 0.86. Nice.
Rang the national line to find out i have been suspended till october!
Now dont get me wrong jsa does not provide a life of luxury, however it does provide me with the essentials like food electricity ect so at this point I cant really afford to go with out it.
I was wondering if anyone has been in this situation before and if anyone has any advice for me when I visit them in the morning?
Sorry for the lengthy post but I am really unsure what to do in this situation and also unsure of what to expect or hope for
Thanks for you time guys

dookar

To whom did you hand your CV and what did they say?

Sounds like a fair decision has been made to me. You can apply for hardship payments

AnxiousMum

Sometimes it helps to listen to instructions and follow them.....but that doesn't help you now. You showed some initiative I guess by taking the application straight to the employer. Can you not get something in writing on company letterhead from the prospective employer to say that you did apply on such and such a date by handing in your cv?

yowordiagree

I handed my CV to the employer directly as I actually had a printed Cv in my bag. I done this to save time and I also thought that
my CV would sell me better than the standard job centre application form. But because of this I am not entitled to any money (at least from jsa) for two months?
I may be biased but I dont think thats quite fair as I did apply for the position. I mean I actually asked for the info for the job its not like it was a job I never really wanted to apply for and just didnt bother.

Benefits_Bod

Is this a suspension or a sanction?

If the latter, it is appealable. Based on the info given so far, you have a slam-dunk case. So, I would advise you to appeal on the simple grounds that you DID apply for the job.

dookar

The problem is you did not apply in the proscribed manner. The employer wanted a specific application form to be filled out.

This is why I ask what they said when you submitted your CV, if they accepted it and led you to believe they would treat it the same as any other application then I would think an incorrect decision had been made.

yowordiagree

AnxiousMum wrote: »

Sometimes it helps to listen to instructions and follow them.....but that doesn't help you now. You showed some initiative I guess by taking the application straight to the employer. Can you not get something in writing on company letterhead from the prospective employer to say that you did apply on such and such a date by handing in your cv?

Yeah I found out the hard way lol I just didnt think it would matter as I applied for the position.
I could try this but I never even got a reply for the vacancy so it may be a slim chance to get them to do something like that however if you dont ask you dont get:)
Should I expect a letter from the job centre explaining the process?
I mean I signed last thursday and was not warned of the suspension however when I rang to enquire what had happened I was told I should have been informed? Talk about confused.com lol
Dookar you mentioned the hardship payments would this be better than closing the claim and restarting it? Is that even possible if the current claim has been suspended?
Thanks for your help everyone

dookar

yowordiagree wrote: »

Dookar you mentioned the hardship payments would this be better than closing the claim and restarting it? Is that even possible if the current claim has been suspended?
Thanks for your help everyone

If you close the claim and restart the sanction stills exists, your choices are to request the decision is reconsidered (or appeal) or accept it and see if you can get hardship payments, which will be significantly lower than the rate of JSA.

You can contact the jobcentre and request a simple explanation and they will explain what has happened, then you may request a detailed explanation and you will get an appointment (telephone) to speak to a decision maker who will explain to you why the decision was reached, complete with references to statute/case law should you request them.

If I were you I would go the explanation route, although there are time limits for appealing so be quick.

yowordiagree

dookar wrote: »

The problem is you did not apply in the proscribed manner. The employer wanted a specific application form to be filled out.

This is why I ask what they said when you submitted your CV, if they accepted it and led you to believe they would treat it the same as any other application then I would think an incorrect decision had been made.

This is the thing on the job centre website it listed both ways of applying, so I didnt think it would matter other than saving time for myself. I also prefer CVs if I have the choice.

Im not sure if I was told it was suspended or sanctioned I thought it was suspended but im havin second thoughts now.

dookar

Hmm, if on the website it said you can apply by sending a CV you have done nothing wrong. Definitely ask for an explanation and tell the decision maker this. They should instigate a reconsideration.


Oh, and you don't get a suspension for refusal of employment

yowordiagree

thanks everyone for your input
and dookar I see what you mean. I think that would be the best course of action. I really not sure though how long my claim has been in this status for, the answer I got on the phone was basically visit your local job centre in the morning. To be fair though it was the end of the day and the guy may of had a right rough day. At least now I have a bit of an idea how to go about things in the morning!